JAILED FOR FREEDOM

Freedom is not something rulers "give" their subjects. It is something achieved in the interaction between society and government.

At one point in 1919, President Wilson was burnt in effigy in front of the White House, pitting the petticoats against the bluecoats. Wildly spewing fire extinguishers were unable to prevent the burning of the four-foot-tall cardboard Wilson. (There were about 50 arrests that day.) The suffragettes used flames again when they set "watchfires" outside the New York City opera house while Wilson was speaking there. Activists transcribed his words as he spoke them and then publicly burned the paper in public fires outside — thus condemning the hypocrisy of his words about international freedom while women were denied suffrage at home. These protests kindled more support for the women, who were steadfast, innovative and organized.

The Watchfire For Freedom stayed right in front of the White House until June 4, 1919, when the 19th Amendment passed the Senate.

As you watch this next clip think about how you overcome obstacles? How do you keep going? How can you help others? 

To follow along with blog and discussion watch movie from 1:28:57-1:38:34.



When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.

"I am not here because I obstructed traffic, but because I pointed out to President Wilson that he is obstructing democracy."

Here is a description of Alice Paul by an NWP activist, Doris Stevens. The excerpt is from Ms. Stevens’ book Jailed for Freedom:

I have seen her very presence in headquarters change in the twinkling of an eye the mood of fifty people. It is not through their affections that she moves them, but through a naked force, a vital force which is indefinable but of which one simply cannot be unaware. Aiming primarily at the intellect of an audience or an individual, she almost never fails to win an emotional allegiance.

Referent Power – People who are well-liked and respected.

"In prison or out American women are not free."

"Many self-satisfied women ... were soon awakened to a new consciousness. of their true status wherein they discovered their 'rights'were only 'privileges.": -Lucy Correll

The Watchfire For Freedom urn was set alight, and kept alight, as the focal point for organizing and not merely as an abstract symbol. Wilson had led the US into the war in order, he claimed, to "make the world safe for democracy." Every time he made a speech or issued a statement proclaiming or calling for democracy and freedom in war-torn Europe, Women’s Party leaders would take a copy of Wilson’s words and solemnly burn it in the urn, denouncing any talk of democracy when more than half the population was denied.

Providing a central focus for the suffrage movement when pressure needed to be increased to clear the final blockades of male supremacy in Congress and in state legislatures. It kept the focus concentrated on Wilson, the head of the Democratic Party, rather than dispersing it. It provided regular news to be reported when newspapers were the sole form of information (every big city boasted numerous papers and even small towns had one) and many of those papers were pro-suffrage. It used his weaknesses against him--the hypocrisy of proclaiming a new and democratic Europe while denying democracy to women here was clear and easy to understand.

Informational Power – A person who has access to valuable or important information.

"Can't you see she looks faint! I'm only asking that you open a window."

Reward Power – This is based upon a person’s ability to bestow rewards. Those rewards might come in the form of job assignments, schedules, pay or benefits.

The Watchfire For Freedom drew on the strength of the movement--the mainstream suffrage association had more than a million members and the National Women’s Party over 50.000. While maintaining a permanent vigil at the White House took resources, women were willing to travel from around the country and do their stints--like the Minnesota contingent headed by Berthe Moller, who brought pine boughs from their home state to burn in the urn, and who wound up in the hoosegow, evidently because they also added an effigy of Wilson to the flames!

"Put her in solitary!"

Coercive Power – This is associated with people who are in a position to punish others. People fear the consequences of not doing what has been asked of them.

The worst treatment was reserved for Alice Paul. In addition to placing her in solitary confinement and subjecting her to brutal force feeding when she went on a hunger strike, the government tried to have Miss Paul committed indefinitely to a mental hospital for the insane. She was transferred to a cell in the psychopathic ward of the prison and her solitary confinement continued there. She had no privacy. Once an hour, day and night, a nurse flashed a light in her face making normal sleep impossible. Doctors visited the prisoner and told her that she was in an unstable mental condition.

"I'll have to report this to the warden!"

A Woman’s Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot
Alice Paul in 1914[From Chapter Sixteen: Night of Terror]

Authorities took steps to ensure that Alice would no longer hold court from her prison window. They transferred her to the jail's psychiatric ward and held her incommunicado. The prison physician, Dr. J.A. Gannon, ordered one of her two windows nailed shut from top to bottom and an iron-barred cell door installed. One morning, through the second window, she spied the face of an old man who was standing atop a ladder. He explained apologetically that he had instructions to cover the opening with boards. As he pounded nails, she watched his face gradually disappear and her room grow darker.

 Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.


"I'm entitled to clean water and an empty slop bucket."

In the first 3 days of a hunger strike, the body is still using energy from glucose. After that, the liver starts processing body fat, in a process called ketosis. After 3 weeks the body enters a "starvation mode". At this point the body "mines" the muscles and vital organs for energy, and loss of bone marrow becomes life-threatening. There are examples of hunger strikers dying after 52 to 74 days of strike


"I'm Dr. White, Alice."

Expert Power – This comes from a person’s expertise. This is commonly a person with an acclaimed skill or accomplishment.

"Do you know where you are?"

Persons who are accused of crimes and are found to be insane are committed to mental hospitals until they are well. The commitment can last far longer than the sentence for the crime of which the prisoner is accused. The threat of committing a woman was especially menacing. In the late 1800s, women who objected to the conditions in their lives and were unwilling to live by the strict conventions of society were sometimes classified as insane and incarcerated in mental hospitals. This was still a real fear in the early 20th century for a "difficult" woman such as Alice Paul. 

"You refuse to eat. Can you tell me why?"

Fasting was used as a method of protesting injustice in pre-Christian Ireland, where it was known as Troscadh or Cealachan. It was detailed in the contemporary civic codes, and had specific rules by which it could be used. The fast was often carried out on the doorstep of the home of the offender. Scholars speculate this was due to the high importance the culture placed on hospitality. Allowing a person to die at one's doorstep, for a wrong of which one was accused, was considered a great dishonor. Others say that the practice was to fast for one whole night, as there is no evidence of people fasting to death in pre-Christian Ireland. The fasts were primarily undertaken to recover debts or get justice for a perceived wrong. There are legends of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, using the hunger strike as well.
 


"We picket the office of the presidency. It has nothing to do with President Wilson and everything to do with the position he holds."



Legitimate Power - This comes from the position a person holds. This is related to a person’s title and job responsibilities. You might also hear this referred to as positional power.



"I just wonder what needs to be explained?"


"Men, their rights and nothing more;  women, their rights and nothing less." - Susan B. Anthony



Seek power that is rooted in the human capacity for cooperation, connection, and compassion.

"She shows no signs of persecution, mania or delusion."

Connection Power – This is based upon who you know. This person knows, and has the ear of, other powerful people within the organization.

As described in the movie, Alice Paul was saved from commitment as insane when the government’s chief psychiatrist, Dr. William A. White, demonstrated his professionalism by stating that she was emotionally healthy; she simply disagreed with Mr. Wilson. Dr. White later said that when he examined Miss Paul, "I felt myself in the presence of an unusually gifted personality" and . . . "she was wonderfully alert and keen . . . possessed of an absolute conviction of her cause . . .with industry and courage sufficient to avail herself of [all diplomatic possibilities]."


"In oranges and women, courage is often mistaken for insanity."

"This town contains scarcely a woman who is opposed to woman suffrage. We know we are a power here!"    -Lucinda Russell

Seek power that unifies rather than threatens.

"Will the circle be unbroken..."


The source of power of social movements lies in two human qualities:

-A strong sense of right and wrong. People have deeply felt beliefs and values, and they react with extreme passion and determination when they realize that these values are violated.

-We understand the world and reality, in large part, through symbolism.

Social movements derive their power from an upset, impassioned, and motivated populace set into motion. This happens when people recognize that their strongly felt beliefs, values, and interests are unjustly violated, and the population is provided with hope that change can happen and a means for them to act. People are specially aroused to action when trusted public leaders, such as the President or Congress people, violate the public's trust to carry out their duties of office in an honest and lawful manner.

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.






Do you have an hour to spare? Would you like to make a contribution? How about a pledge?

Next up A Reason & A Deal and the tide turns.

RESOURCES:
http://historywired.si.edu/detail.cfm?ID=492
http://connecticuthistory.org/a-feeling-of-solidarity-labor-unions-and-suffragists-team-up/#sthash.qPB5VmsD.dpuf
http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/wlm/notes/
http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=1268
http://expertaccess.cincom.com/2012/07/the-seven-types-of-power-in-the-workplace/
http://paceebene.org/nonviolent-change-101/power-nonviolent-change/transforming-power